Computers and electronic documents have become an increasingly indispensable part of modern life. Indeed, electronic documents are rapidly gaining acceptance as a convenient replacement for conventional paper documents. The growing popularity of electronic documents has resulted in the adaptation of conventional paper-based document processing workflows to the electronic realm. One such adaptation has been the increased use and acceptance of electronic signatures on agreements, contracts, and other documents. For example, when negotiating parties reach an agreement with respect to a course of action, state of affairs, or other subject matter, the resulting agreement is usually reduced to writing and executed by the parties as a way to memorialize the terms of the agreement. Since this “reduction to writing” now often takes the form of an electronic document stored on a computer readable medium, electronic signatures have become commonplace and have indeed gained widespread legal recognition. See, for example, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National (ESIGN) Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. § 96. The wide variety of different formats and legal requirements relating to electronic signatures has resulted in a correspondingly wide variety of workflows that facilitate the application of an electronic signature to a document. Electronic signature workflows are influenced by the wide range of computing devices that are used to interact with electronic documents and generate electronic signatures.
An electronic signature is created when a representation of a person's signature is recorded digitally. One way of accomplishing this is to draw the signature on a touch sensitive surface using a stylus, finger, or other pointing device. Another way of creating an electronic signature is to write the signature on a piece of paper using a conventional writing utensil, and then scan or photograph the written signature. Signature acquisition techniques such as these are readily implemented using technology provided by handheld electronic devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. In particular, the touch sensitive surfaces and cameras that often form part of modern handheld devices make it easy to draw or photograph a signature. The convenience of using a handheld device to record an electronic signature is in contrast to the difficulty of using a device such as a desktop or laptop computer to accomplish this same task. In particular, desktop and laptop computers often lack integrated touch sensitive surfaces or cameras. And while such devices may include a mouse, drawing a signature using a mouse is both difficult and inaccurate. Users therefore often find the process of electronically recording a signature using a desktop, laptop, or other similar device to be cumbersome. However, notwithstanding these challenges, many users still prefer working with a desktop or laptop computer because such devices usually have a relatively larger screen as compared to handheld electronic devices. The importance of a larger display is particularly significant for a user who often works with lengthy documents. Given the foregoing, users are forced to choose between a convenient electronic signature experience using a handheld device that makes document review cumbersome, or a cumbersome electronic signature experience using a device having a relatively larger display that makes document manipulation convenient.